I Won't Let RMDs Ruin My Retirement. Here's My Plan to Manage Them.

I've been saving for retirement in a traditional 401(k) since my 20s. And my goal is to continue doing so until I'm unable to work any longer.

My hope is that by the time retirement rolls around, I'll be sitting on a nice 401(k) balance. But while that's a good thing in theory, it could leave me on the hook for hefty required minimum distributions, or RMDs.

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RMDs can be a nightmare for some retirees -- namely, because they can lead to higher taxes and have other unwanted consequences. But I refuse to let RMDs wreck my retirement. Here's my game plan for making the most of them and ensuring that they're manageable.

Do some Roth conversions before RMDs start

The tricky thing about Roth conversions is that they count as taxable income. Given my current paycheck, it doesn't make sense for me to start Roth conversions now. I'd be looking at converting at a potentially high tax rate, which just doesn't make sense.

At some point, though, I might slow down on the work front, or I may be forced to. And I figure that might be a good opportunity to do Roth conversions.

I don't necessarily expect to be able to get all of my money into a Roth IRA. But if I can move a chunk of it over, that could reduce my RMDs substantially.

Use charitable giving to my advantage

The nice thing about having money in a traditional retirement account is that if you're inclined to be charitable, you can score a tax break. One strategy I plan to use is rolling some of my 401(k) into a traditional IRA and doing qualified charitable distributions, or QCDs.

QCDs allow you to send funds from a traditional IRA to a registered charity directly. In doing so, you satisfy your RMD but bypass taxes, which sounds like a win. Since you can't do a QCD out of a 401(k), I'll need to move money into an IRA first.

Brace for IRMAAs and incorporate them into my budget

Even if I'm able to do a partial Roth conversion and use QCDs to my advantage, I may still end up with RMDs that push my income into IRMAA territory. IRMAAs are income-related monthly adjustment amounts -- surcharges imposed on Medicare premiums for retirees with certain incomes.

IRMAAs are annoying at best, and they can be financially destructive at worst. That's because landing in the highest IRMAA tier could add hundreds of dollars per month to the cost of your Medicare premiums.

With proper planning, though, I'm fairly confident I can avoid the highest IRMAA tier. And a lower one shouldn't be so terrible as long as I plan for it. It's kind of like any big expense; if you know to anticipate it ahead of time, you can work it into your budget.

Enjoy the money even if I'm forced to withdraw more than I want

In an ideal world, I'd be able to dictate how much money is taken from my retirement savings each year. In reality, the IRS has given me tax breaks on my 401(k) contributions for a long time, and it's going to want to tax me on that money eventually.

Rather than bemoan those RMDs, I'm choosing to embrace them. That could mean using the money to fund vacations, home improvements, or even more day-to-day activities that bring me joy. I figure there's no sense in wasting mental energy getting upset about RMDs when I could choose to look at them as a license to spend money instead, provided I'm planning for the tax bill and am managing my finances accordingly.

It's not always possible to avoid RMDs in retirement. But with proper planning, they don't have to be such a big problem.

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